Tag: Herod

The Judean Desert. A series of undulating hills that starts just next to Jerusalem. Beautifully tranquil, it contains some of my favourite parts of Israel. Avid followers of this blog will no doubt recall that our first field trip on my tour guide course was to the Northern Judean desert. A couple of years on, it was time to return, partly to refresh my memory on some of the sites that I had not seen for a while and partly to discover some new ones. Accompanied by my friend and fellow tour guide Ori, it was time for another adventure.

Byzantine period mosaic on display at the Inn of the Good Samaritan

We began our day at the site that marks the believed location of the story of the Good Samaritan. In addition to enjoying the mosaics and Byzantine ruins that we had seen on our last visit, we enjoyed the recently produced film that you can now watch while sitting in a cave that was a home to Jews in the Second Temple Period. The film was rather kitch, but still helps explain the story of the Good Samaritan fable.

While wondering around the site, we noticed some old ruins the other side of the road. The staff told us that it was ruins of a former Herodian palace. We decided to head over and take a closer look. After some rather tricky off-roading (Ori’s little Suzuki was not really built for this but it coped admirably) we passed the remains of a Crusader fortress which protected this ancient road. We then climbed a little further on foot to explore the Herodian ruins.

Remains of a Herodian bath house – in the background is Route 1 and the Inn of the Good Samaritan

The site seemed to be in the midst of excavations, although it was unclear by whom, and when the last time was that they had been there. Still, we were able to make out pieces of 2000 year old mosaics, and part of the hypocaust that made up the hot room in the bath house. It was rather remarkable that this site was just there, almost ignored among the other archaeological treasures in the area.

Mikve (Jewish ritual bath) at Qumran

We continued south, arriving at Qumran. After a spot of lunch we explored the ruins, and also saw the film (which is quite good) – we had unfortunately not been able to watch it during the course due to time pressures. The ruins at Qumran are a little underwhelming, given the sites importance, but the story of the Dead Sea scrolls discovered nearby is remarkable, and it is fun to see how to match what we understand about this ascetic community with the archaeological remains at the site.

Built into the cliff face of Wadi Kelt – St George’s Monastery

We returned north, and after a brief stop at Kalia beach, to see the facilities (it is a popular stop for Dead Sea bathers), we returned north. Our destination was the well hidden monastery of St George, built into the cliff face along Wadi Kelt and dating to the 5th century. This was certainly the highlight of the day, as we made our way along a deserted road we eventually found the cross that marked the first view of the monastery. It is a very special sight; you are in the middle of the desert but there is a burst of greenery in the wadi thanks to the year-round stream that comes from the nearby spring. And there, almost hidden in the cliff face, is the monastery. This is certainly a place that you would come for solitude.

Ancient olive tree in Wadi Kelt

Eventually we arrived at the monastery gate, but from there we faced a steep descent and then an even steeper climb to arrive at the actual structure. Along the way we noted the remains of a Hasmonean aqueduct that used to transport water from the spring to various cities in the area, and many beautiful, ancient trees. The monastery itself was closed (they only accept visitors in the morning) but it was enough for us to see it from the outside and marvel at its beauty. Truly one of my favourite places in Israel.

View over Jericho and its surroundings from the Dead Sea Balcony

We returned to our car and made a final stop in the nearby Jewish settlement of Mitzpe Yericho. Here is something called the Dead Sea Balcony, a viewpoint which offers a stunning vista over the Jordan Valley, Jericho and the northern part of the Dead Sea. It was a nice way to finish off the day, before returning back north.

Today was a catch-up field trip. Well, almost. To say it was a catch up is not entirely precise – my course have not yet visited Herodion. However, I do already know that I won’t be able to make the scheduled visit for my course, so I was catching-up in advance, if that’s possible.

Herodian is nestled in the West Bank not far from Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Here, so we believe, was the final resting place of Herod the Great, the master builder of Israel, although by all accounts also quite a tyrannical ruler. The trip came at bad timing for our guide following the publication of an academic article suggesting that the sarcophagus identified as belonging to Herod is not in fact his; still this remains a minority view amongst the experts.

The site used to be rather tricky to access but since the opening of a new road around 8 years ago it is only 15 minutes’ drive from Jerusalem city limits and there has been an explosion in tourism – we were at the site with around four other groups.

As with our other trips to the West Bank, I found it strange to look out over the mix of Palestinian and Jewish settlements dotting the landscape. It seems so peaceful, tranquil, calm. If you didn’t know that there was a conflict here, there would be no way of picking it up. But still it is a little unnerving to have that knowledge that under the peaceful facade lie many political tensions.

View out from Herodion

Similar to his other construction sites in the Judean desert, Herod built a magnificent palace/fortress here with an incredibly impressive water system; huge cisterns, bath houses, pools. It is actually the only of his fortresses which he entirely built himself – the others were all based on Hasmonean remains. Perhaps this was why he chose this as his final resting place – it was after all entirely his.

Passing the bathhouse and pool at the foot of the slope, we ascended to the upper fortress. Our guide told us how at this site, prior to any buildings being present here, Herod had defeated his enemy Antigonos for the first time in battle, having been chased out of the Galilee and Judea. This, together with its convenient location in between Jerusalem and Masada, may have been a reason for constructing the fortress.

We delved into the psychology of Herod, a man who had to show that he could achieve anything, a man who was paranoid about another insurrection; scarred by the experience of his family who nearly died of thirst while under siege. A man whose popularity was not widespread; on hearing that Herod had killed his own son, the Caesar Augustus is said to have remarked that he ‘would rather be Herod’s pig than his son’.

Sarcophagus believed to be that of King Herod (from the Israel Museum exhibition)

We explored the various stages of building at the site. The current theory is that a large palace and fortress were constructed; later Herod decided that he would be buried here so he built a mausoleum together with a theatre for his funeral ceremony and covered the rest of the structure in earth. We heard the sad story of Ehud Netzer, the archaeologist who dedicated his life to excavating Herodion and finding Herod’s actual tomb on the site. Having finally done so, he fell to his death shortly afterwards after leaning on a fence that collapsed. This was only a few years ago and his presence is very much still felt at the site.

Later, rebels against the Roman regime in both the Great Revolt (which ultimately lead to the destruction of the Second Temple) and the Bar Kochba Revolt used the site, converting a reception room into a synagogue, building ritual baths and turning the impressive water system into a series of tunnels to assist them in guerrilla warfare.

Theatre at Herodion

We descended through these tunnels to the theatre believed to have hosted Herod’s eulogy. We did not go to visit the mausoleum, as it is currently in the Israel Museum for its huge exhibition on Herod. However, we were able to enjoy a very good film recreating the events around Herod’s death and his funeral procession, based on descriptions in Josephus.

With the rest of the group heading off to Susya and Hebron, sites I had already visited, I took my leave at Gush Etzion, just about managing to get back to Tel Aviv for lunch and catch up on my blog!